Warning: Bad language, reference to violence, gangs, criminality and rape.

A/N: Well, hello. Much later than ever intended but then sadly I do prioritise the real world over the imaginary – most of the time :). Enjoy the chapter, I hope you remember the storyline – either way, drop me a review and say 'Hi'. Still got more to say about this baby so encouragement is always good.

A big thank you to Chibi Rose Angel for acting as honorary beta-reader – a great and very useful job! Cheers!

Dickensian Streets

By Corralero

Chapter Fourteen

Quatre awoke to the quiet, glowing darkness of his cockpit and the soft incessant beeping of the alarm he had set. They were an hour and half away from their destination and Quatre had slept restlessly while Duo had kept watch. Now he began to set system checks, methodically moving through Sandrock's stats, ensuring his readiness for the battle. He worked steadily, his stomach tightening as he thought of what was ahead, of his comrades already engaged in battle without the support they needed. He thought of the potential ramifications of this mission. The base needed to be completely destroyed and OZ's monitoring systems would be set back years to their advantage. Even now the hampering effects were evident. He knew Duo must be somewhere nearby him, yet they maintained complete silence. Any communication would be picked up and tracked hence why they refrained from contacting the others. He reached out and flicked the gundam into stealth mode.

He could feel his shoulders tensing and shrugged them to relax, rolling his head from side to side. The long wait stretched before him.

Slowly but surely the site of the battle became apparent. A tiny glimmer, no more than an out of place star, became flashes in the pan, flaring and disappearing, blink-and-you've-missed-them types. These grew in size, intensity and number until it painted a ferocious battle, taking place in the most dangerous and inhospitable setting known to man. Even as he watched, something exploded with a blinding flash and he turned his face away. One of the most lethal elements of space battle was the visual disturbance from the imprints of bright explosions against dark space. Fortunately, Trowa had developed a shield not unlike that of sunglasses to minimize the effect. Quatre hastily put it into action.

As they drew closer, Quatre could make out the desperate situation more clearly. The base was extraordinarily well defended, with numbers beyond their reckoning. Evidently, the commanders had recognized it as a high target priority. The defense was a mix of manual mobile suits and electronic dolls. He could make out Wing, Heavyarms and Shelong fighting with reckless ferocity, unable to get close to their targets. Wing and Shelong fought side by side, as Wing struggled to get an open shot at the base with its laser cannon. Heavyarms had been cut off. Quatre could feel rather than hear the vibrations of its double guns as Trowa attempted to cut his way back to his friends. They had arrived in the nick of time, as Sid might have said. The damage on the vast machines of war was clear, even to the physical eye, and the occasional slow reaction betrayed the oncoming exhaustion of their pilots.

They were nearly there.

He stabbed the COM button, bringing up a visual. There was no need for secrecy this close. Duo's face flashed up immediately, jaw set and eyes blazing. Quatre wasted no time with pleasantries.

"Stealth mode off?"

"Gotchaya."

"Ready to give them hell?"

Duo cast him a surprised look, and then winked in humorous appreciation.

"Shinnigami's comin'."

The visual shut off as Deathscythe appeared just to Sandrock's left. The lethal scythe powered up as Quatre prepared to bring his own curved blades into the fray. Duo whistled appreciatively and Quatre just had time to open the COM links to the other three pilots before he leapt forward into action.

They immediately split, Quatre to Heero and Wufei, slicing cleanly through two dolls harassing Shelong's flank, and Duo to Trowa's side. It was a vicious, rolling dogfight, a mêlée of blurred lines of fire, foes from all sides and unexpected blows from behind. Quatre fought like a fury, the only way he could focus through a numbing tiredness that the few hours of snatched sleep had not lessened. He was so focused on his task that he hardly noticed that Heavyarms and Deathscythe had managed to battle their way over. He even came close to missing Heero's terse orders across the COM.

"All Gundams clear a path to the base. I need a clear shot."

"Roger that," came the automatic reply from the four pilots.

It was easier said than done. (The enemy's ranks had thinned since their arrival but the remaining suits and dolls were proving to be quite resistant. Also, the base's manual defenses were coming into play. Quatre heard Duo swear in surprise as Deathscythe shuddered under fire from the base and then yelled out loud himself as Sandrock stumbled and dropped in height. He forcefully regained even keel and rocketed upwards, smashing into a mobile doll directly above him. The explosion momentarily engulfed him, but he still heard Wufei yelling urgently.

"01, now! Take it now!"

The obstruction cleared from Quatre's view and he could see the gap. Wing's rifle was out and powering up as the others held the opposition off for him. The destructive jet of light sped out and impaled the base. The resounding force of the explosion threw them backwards but one thing was now very certain.

The mission had been completely successfully.

When the chaos cleared, the opposition was gone, having fled back to their bases to report. The Stigartrus base was hanging, drifting, half-destroyed.

"01 speaking. 02, 03, 04 and myself move in to complete base destruction. 05, ensure there are no more hostile forces in the region."

As Quatre moved forward to carry out his orders, his stomach twisted uneasily. There had been no rejoicing at the destruction of the base, at the completion of a major victory. Duo and Quatre had received no relieved welcome as they had charged to the rescue. There was no light-hearted, post-battle chatter now and the visual COM links remained firmly off. They had been almost fatally late – and a stony silence now greeted them. There was no room for error in war. De-briefing would be harsh when they got back to the Peacemillion. Quatre got to work on the destruction of the base, trying to forget the clenching in his stomach.

It was only in the cold bright light of the Peacemillion hanger that Quatre could see how terrifyingly close to defeat they had come. Sandrock had docked first and he was able to watch Shelong, Wing and Heavyarms all but limp in. Sandrock had sustained some pretty nasty hits but they were mere scratches compared to the others. Quatre sighed as he watched Deathscythe make an unusually clumsy landing. All around, the Sweepers and allies were cheering at the victory, but Quatre worried at the price. It was time to go down and face the inevitable music.

As he dropped to the deck, Quatre felt exhaustion wash over him as the adrenaline ran out and the L2 experience caught up with him. He ached deeply all over, his throat hurt abominably and his head was still pounding. A severe gravel burn all down his left side was making itself known. He was the first down and leant tiredly against his Gundam's foot as he waited, ignoring in his dazed state, the Sweeper crew talking excitedly as they moved to assess the state of the Gundams and congratulate the pilots. Wufei was already on the ground and making his way directly towards Quatre, Heero and Trowa hot on his heels. Quatre watched the black Gundam furthest away with mounting anxiety as Duo failed to emerge. He looked back down into Wufei's dark eyes, flashing with anger and stress.

"What the hell was that?" he demanded.

It was only after he landed that Duo realised he was gasping raggedly in a mixture of pain and adrenaline. He released his vice-like grip on the controls and let his head fall back against the seat. One determined effort to slow his breathing down, and only after his heartbeat had quietened, did he (originally you had his and not he) begin to explore the damage. Carefully, he released the harnesses and pushed his hand between his body and the bottom of his seat. Pulling it away, he stared at it in the faint light of the cockpit. It was red with blood. He choked back the hysterical sob that rose in his throat as humiliation flashed through his mind and glanced at his screen. His four comrades were staring up at his Gundam. Three of them looked furious. Shit.

Quatre looked on anxiously as Duo finally emerged, taking a cable down. He risked a glance at the others.

"Please-"

"Quiet," Heero cut him off abruptly, in much the same way he had dealt with Wufei earlier.

"We will debrief away from the hanger."

Quatre frowned at the cold tone as his own frayed temper flared. He was not used to being treated like this. Duo had reached the ground but paused by the cable, hands twisted around it as he watched the others warily. Quatre could see L2 still bubbling away in him. Heero jerked his head in the direction of the exit to the main ship in clear order and Duo began to walk slowly towards them. Satisfied, the others turned away to follow Heero as Quatre waited with a tired smile for his friend.

Quatre could feel Duo trembling as they walked together, a bundle of exhausted tension stretched to the breaking point. He looked down at his own shaking hands. The walk to the exit was a long one. He didn't quite dare to look at Duo. Not just yet. He regretted his choice when they finally reached the other pilot and stepped into a quiet corridor, stretching away to the living quarters. The others set off without a word as Duo stretched out a hand to rest against the doorframe.

"Kind of ya ta wait," the L2 pilot sneered. Quatre winced and hurried to speak, but Heero spoke first.

"We have had enough delays, Maxwell." Anger faintly colored the Perfect Soldier's cool voice as he spoke without turning. Duo raised a sarcastic eyebrow.

"If'sat's th' best damn hello we're gonna get, then ya can wait a bit longer."

Internally, Quatre sighed. Duo had spent two days baiting people to the best of his ability, and three Gundam pilots fresh from battle didn't need much riling. He was right. Wufei and Heero stopped dead in their tracks, rounding on the America. They looked almost as strained as Quatre felt. But not quite.

"02, debrief now," Heero's voice was laced with threat.

Duo bit back like a cornered animal. "Fuck off, Yuy. It can wait an hour."

"Not after a mission like that, it can't," said Wufei, his tone tight and disapproving. Quatre saw Duo clench his fists and stepped in.

"Can it please wait? The mission was successful after all."

"Only just!"

He could feel the tension rising in the corridor where they had halted, see it in his comrade's eyes, feel it in himself. He wanted to rest, wanted sometime to pull himself together, wanted Duo to have space, to have care…the L2 pilot's defenses were still in place, precariously so.

"Wha' ya tryin' ta say, Wuffers? An' cut ta th' chase," Duo was pale, his features harsh and uncaring, defiance still glittering. Wufei read the emotion the wrong way.

"You screwed up, Maxwell. You and Winner here. And I want to know why. Where the hell were you?" The accusations were spat out. It was the exhaustion talking, Quatre thought wearily, the tension, the constant pressure of this wretched war. We're only sixteen.

"Turned up, didn't we? Take a look around, dumbass, th' mission happened, no one's dead but some bastard ozzies."

"That's not the point," Heero's voice, stern and uncompromising. "A few minutes later and it would have been over."

"Ya think we don' know tha'? Just as well we hurried then, ain't it? 'M sorry 'm not fucking perfect, Heero!"

"They were simple ord-"

"Stop it. That's enough."

Trowa's voice was surprisingly firm. He pushed open the nearest door, leading into a small common room. "In."

Heero took a steadying breath and nodded, leading the way. They filed in, one by one, plonking themselves down at the plastic table. Quatre's heart struggled painfully as Duo entered cautiously, remaining near the door, flushes of anger still painted on his cheeks. He dithered.

"Sit down." Heero's curt order made the boy flinch and the other pilots looked at each other in surprise, and Quatre saw them look, really look, at the pair, saw the struggling and difficult transition from seeing 02 and 04 as Duo and Quatre, friends not soldiers.

It was a hard process to leap from one track to another, the warring emotions and calls of a fighter with comrades. Yet none of the Gundam pilots were unkind and their faces were suddenly gentler as Duo lowered himself uneasily into a chair and silence descended. Quatre looked carefully at Heero, Trowa and Wufei, noting the lines of stress, bags of sleeplessness and wear on their faces. Wufei spoke first, words carefully chosen and directed to his hands splayed deliberately on the table.

"That was unprofessional and ill-disciplined of us all. May we start the debrief again, beginning with Maxwell and Winner's accounts?"

Quatre glanced at Duo, who nodded wearily. He took a breath and stepped into the breach.

"Let us first then start with our apologies. We were late, however this was not, and I repeat this, not on account of any unprofessional behavior on our part." He paused, taking in the expressions of the other pilots. Pleased to find traces of guilt and acceptance there, he continued. "We received the mission briefs and were on schedule when we took a pre-planned refuel stop at L2…" He paused again, looking involuntarily towards Duo, his earlier assurance gone, torn between protecting Duo and giving a full explanation. Duo picked up the narrative.

"Th' ship next ta us musta had a hell of a lota contraband crap on her, coz next thin' we know, th' boys in blue are swarmin' everywhere an' we end up havin' ta do a runner. L2 ended up in a mother of a lockdown."

Wufei nodded. "We did hear about that." Quatre could tell Duo barely refrained from rolling his eyes.

"So we were kinda stuck. L2 lockdowns are hardcore an' we were wanted. We couldn't sit it out, 'cause we had ta get ta ya on time, so I ran up some favours wid some old friends an' we managed a break out, got back on th' road an' here we are."

It sounded so simple and neat when Duo said it. Factual and logical. Bish bash bosh. The others exchanged glances.

"This took you several days?" Heero inquired, his voice was carefully expressionless. Duo looked up but Quatre beat him to it.

"You have no idea," he said coldly. "How hard Duo worked to get us off L2 in time. We are talking about a full scale military and city lockdown. The port was completely shut off, there was no space communication, OZ and the police were patrolling constantly, fully armed and manning Leos. It's logistically amazing we actually even managed to get off, let alone reach you in time."

They were staring at him in surprise. Little Quatre showing his steel. Serves them right, he thought tiredly. The silence extended as the pilots took in the new information. They began to question them carefully, timing, distance, logistics. No accusations, simple business. He could deal with that, leaving Duo to sit in silence, chewing on a bruised lip and nodding. Eventually the questions trickled into silence.

Wufei looked up from his tabletop reflections, his eyes raking the pair keenly.

"There is something you are not saying.'

Quatre gazed back, his heart jumping.

"What are you implying?"

But Wufei didn't rise this time. He shook his head, raising his hands placatingly. "Nothing against your honour, but you look exhausted and Maxwell looks injured…and you have not told us what this deal contained."

"You also have not mentioned the chief of police, Mercer."

Heero's sudden intersection caused Duo to jolt in shock, breaking his silence.

"Where ya hear tha'?" he demanded.

Heero looked at his friend, surprise playing across his face. "Howard told me down on the docking floor. Arrest details are circulating for someone with your name and description."

Quatre chanced a glance at Duo. He was white to the lips.

"Duo?"

He didn't respond, Quatre could practically feel him beginning to crumble, and he could feel himself beginning to fray. He tried once more to protect his friend.

"Do you really need this information, Heero?"

He watched the 01 pilot hesitate, cold eyes hiding a surprising compassion rapidly assessing his appeal. Eventually he spoke.

"The information is of no vital importance for mission objectives, but for friendship…" he paused, evidently struggling with the unfamiliar phrases. Trowa came to his rescue.

"Basically, you both look like you've been to hell and back. We want to know because we care."

Duo let out an abrupt bark of laughter, startling the others as he stood up.

"I shot him, alright? Pretended I wanted ta negotiate an' shot him dead. Assassinated on Khan's orders. I shot th' best damn thing tha's happened ta L2 in years, an' I destroyed th' best initiative they've ever had an' shoved all their funds inta Khan's bank accounts. Oh yeah, an' I let him fuck me inta th' mattress like a cheap whore. Tha's ya deal for ya. If ya really wanna know, his bruiser psycho Mendez turned up ta join inta th' party, coz he had a great taste of me in prison. Thought I'd earned me keep so shot him through th' shoulder, though didn' stop him 'avin' a go at Quat. 04 finally shot th' fucker, one less bastard in th' world. Th' Gundam's win again. So there's ya debrief, Heero. Point one, Duo's a great fuck so get in line. Point two, what-th'-fuck-ever. We got here on time, we stayed alive an' boom! Th' damn mission's complete once more. Whoo-fuckin'-hoo." Duo paused, trembling head to foot, hands clenched into white knuckled fists at his sides. He broke his fierce, wild gaze suddenly, shivering and swallowing.

"Fuck…'m sorry, ya weren' askin' like tha'. It's just…Heero, I'm sorry…" he looked up, half-pleading. "I gotta go..."

Four heads nodded dazedly even as Duo stumbled out, leaving a stunned room behind him. Then Wufei took a deep, careful breath.

"Is that true?" he asked. "Did Duo do all that? Was he…?"

Quatre nodded slowly and then was suddenly fierce.

"Duo worked miracles on L2. I've no idea how he got us out of there alive, on time." He realised he was shivering himself. "I…I can't explain what it was like. I wouldn't have been able to imagine it…"

Trowa leant forward, catching his eye. "Are you alright? Duo said you were attacked…"

The Winner heir shrugged wearily, rubbing at his bruised neck. "I'll need a medical, I think…but I've never been so out of my depth. There was a whole world there that I understood nothing of and Duo knew inside out. I was so…useless." He spat the word out, finally voicing what had haunted him through all the dark twisting streets of L2, the hell of having to sit back and watch as your comrade took the blows.

Trowa spoke calmingly, reassuring as always, "We all know you'll have done all you can." He nodded miserably and watched as the other three exchanged glances.

"I think," Wufei said slowly. "We may leave the debrief here today. Winner, you and Maxwell need rest and medical attention. I would imagine you will be asked to submit a fuller report." He spoke over Quatre's protests, "As I understand it, you have drawn swords with a highly powerful criminal gang, on top of Maxwell being wanted specifically by the police. We do not know what repercussions may come from this."

Sighing, Quatre nodded his assent. Stiffly, the battle-induced strain pulling at their muscles, they stood. Quatre turned to lead the way from the room, only to halt as Heero's hand came down on his shoulder. He turned, looking into the Prussian blue eyes of the solider.

"Well done. And…thank you."

To be continued…